Evening Business News briefing

In this Dec. 20 file photo, a sign hangs in North Andover, Mass. U.S. sales of previously occupied homes dipped in December from November, in part because of a limited supply of available homes. But for all of 2012, sales rose to their highest level in five years.

Home sales rose to 5-year high in 2012

U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose in 2012 to their highest level in five years, spurred higher by record-low mortgage rates and steady hiring. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales reached 4.65 million last year. That's up 9.2 percent from 2011 and the most since 2007. Sales are still below the roughly 5.5 million that are consistent with a healthy market. Sales dipped in December to a pace of 4.94 million, down from 4.99 million in November. November's figure was revised lower, but was still the highest in three years. The supply of available homes is shrinking as sales rise. That's pushing up prices. The inventory of homes for sale dropped to 1.82 million in December, the lowest in 12 years.

US Trade Rep. Kirk to step down in February

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who worked to get trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama through Congress, is leaving the Obama administration next month. Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, announced his departure in a brief statement Tuesday. He had served as the administration's top trade negotiator through President Barack Obama's first term in office. Kirk also led the administration's effort to bring cases before the World Trade Organization that accused China of unfair trade practices. Among them were charges of imposing heavy tariffs on imports of U.S. automobiles, auto parts and steel. His office also joined the European Union and Japan in accusing China of limiting its exports of rare earth minerals, which are used to manufacture hybrid car batteries, flat-screen televisions and other high tech products.

Reports: Microsoft may invest in Dell buyout

Microsoft has joined the negotiations to buy struggling computer maker Dell, according to media reports. Both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corp. may invest some of the money needed to take Dell Inc. private after 25 years as a publicly traded company. Tuesday's stories cited unidentified people familiar with the negotiations. If Microsoft joins in a Dell buyout, CNBC and the Journal say the software maker would contribute $1 billion to $3 billion. That amount would make Microsoft Corp. a minority investor in a complex deal expected to cost $23 billion to $27 billion if it's completed. Microsoft declined to comment on the reports.

AT&T to buy Alltel operations for about $780M

AT&T said Tuesday that it has reached a deal to buy the Alltel U.S. wireless operations for about $780 million to boost its spectrum in rural areas. The Dallas telecommunications company is buying the licenses, retail stores and network assets, along with about 585,000 subscribers, from Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. The news sent the Beverly, Mass.-based company's shares up 9 percent to $42.74 in premarket trading. Alltel's network covers about 4.6 million people in mainly rural areas across six states - Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. It generated revenue of about $350 million for the first nine months of 2012. AT&T said it expects that as it upgrades the network, mobile Internet service will improve for both Alltel customers and AT&T customers who roam in those areas. The deal remains subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice.

Portugal cuts deficit, eyes return to debt market

Portugal's finance minister says his government's budget deficit likely fell below the target of 5 percent of GDP last year, reflecting successful measures to cut spending. Vitor Gaspar told Portuguese media in Brussels on Tuesday that the country may soon seek to borrow money on international markets again as investor confidence in the country returns. In 2011, investors demanded increasingly higher rates to lend money to Portugal amid concerns over the country's meager economic growth and high deficit. That forced Portugal to demand a ?78 billion ($104 billion) bailout in May 2011.

Sun journalist charged over police bribes

The defense editor of Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid The Sun and a former police officer have been charged in connection with the bribing of public officials for information, British prosecutors said Tuesday. The Crown Prosecution Service said journalist Virginia Wheeler and Constable Paul Flattley were charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. Prosecutors claim that Flattley was paid at least 6,450 pounds ($10,225) between 2008 and 2011 for information on "accidents, incidents and crimes." Alison Levitt, legal advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said "the information provided included information about the tragic death of a 14-year-old girl, as well as details about both suspects and victims of accidents, incidents and crimes."

Sharp rise in German investor optimism

A closely watched survey shows an unexpectedly sharp rise in German investor confidence, suggesting increasing optimism over how financial markets will perform in the coming months. The ZEW institute said Tuesday its indicator of economic sentiment rose by 24.6 points in January over the month before to an overall 31.5 points - its highest level since May 2010. Economists had predicted a more modest rise to 12 points. ZEW President Wolfgang Franz says experts "seem to expect that the positive sentiment on the financial markets may soon result in companies realizing investments that had been postponed." The institute asked 272 analysts about their expectations for the next six months.

New pay cuts trigger transport strikes in Greece

Striking subway workers in Athens defied a court order to return to work and continued their protest for a sixth day, as protests against new pay cuts escalated in Greece's capital. A union representing workers at the Athens Metro continued their strike Tuesday, a day after a court declared their protest illegal. The court ruling would allow the government to activate emergency powers to force the strikers back to work. Workers at the state-run city bus, trolley-bus and tram systems were also planning work stoppages Tuesday, that will likely cause extensive traffic problems around the city during the morning rush hour. The government in cash-strapped Greece has imposed a new round of salary cuts by broadening pay scales in the public sector.

Chinese workers revolt over 2-minute toilet breaks

Hundreds of Chinese factory workers angry about strictly timed bathroom breaks and fines for starting work late held their Japanese and Chinese managers hostage for a day and a half before police broke up the strike. About 1,000 workers at Shanghai Shinmei Electric Company held the 10 Japanese nationals and eight Chinese managers inside the factory in Shanghai starting Friday morning until 11.50 p.m. Saturday, said a statement from the parent company, Shinmei Electric Co., released Monday. It said the managers were released uninjured after 300 police officers were called to the factory. A security guard at the Shanghai plant said Tuesday that workers had gone on strike to protest the company's issuing of new work rules, including time limits on bathroom breaks and fines for being late.

UN predicts millions more jobless despite growth

The U.N. labor agency warns that the lingering effects of the global economic crisis means unemployment will continue to rise - even though world economies are expected to pick up. The International Labor Organization said in a report released Tuesday the net number of unemployed people rose by 4 million in 2012 to some 197 million overall. It is expected to rise by 5.1 million in 2013, and by another 3 million in 2014. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder says "An uncertain economic outlook, and the inadequacy of policy to counter this, has weakened aggregate demand, holding back investment and hiring." The global unemployment rate during the crisis peaked at 6.21 percent in 2009 and was 5.93 percent in 2012. It's expected to reach 6.01 percent in 2013 and 2014.

Neb. governor OKs Keystone XL route through state

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approved a new route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Tuesday that avoids the state's environmentally sensitive Sandhills region. Heineman sent a letter to President Barack Obama confirming that he would allow the controversial, Canada-to-Texas pipeline to proceed through his state. The project has faced some of its strongest resistance in Nebraska from a coalition of landowners and environmental groups who say it would contaminate the Ogallala aquifer, a massive groundwater supply.Canadian pipeline developer TransCanada and some workers' unions say the project is safe and will create thousands of jobs. The original route would have run the pipeline through a region of erodible, grass-covered sand dunes. The new route skirts that area, although the pipeline's most vocal critics remain firmly opposed to it as well.

Wal-Mart warns suppliers on stricter measures

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is alerting its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven't been authorized by the discounter. In a letter sent Tuesday to suppliers of its Wal-Mart stores as well as Sam's Clubs in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, the company says it will adopt a "zero tolerance" policy on subcontracting without the company's knowledge, effective March. 1. Previously, suppliers had three chances to rectify their mistakes. Wal-Mart's stricter measure, along with other changes to its policy, comes amid increasing calls for better safety oversight after a deadly fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied its clothes. Wal-Mart has said that the factory should not have been making its clothes.

Ex-Stanford executive gets 5 years in $7B swindle

The star prosecution witness in the trial of convicted Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for helping to bilk investors out of more than $7 billion in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. James M. Davis had faced up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2009 to three fraud and conspiracy charges as part of an agreement with prosecutors. "I am ashamed and I'm embarrassed," Davis said at the sentencing hearing at Houston federal court. "I've perverted what was right and I hurt thousands of investors. I betrayed their trust and also associates and neighbors and friends and my family." Prosecutors say Stanford persuaded investors to buy certificates of deposit from his Caribbean bank, then used that money to bankroll a string of failed businesses and his own lavish lifestyle, including a fleet of private jets and yachts. At Stanford's trial last year, Davis - the former chief financial officer of Stanford's companies - portrayed his ex-boss as the leader of the fraud who burned through billions of CD deposits. He testified that he and Stanford faked the bank's profits and fabricated documents to hide the fraud. Stanford, a one-time billionaire, was convicted in March on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts. He was sentenced to 110 years in prison and is serving his sentence in a Central Florida prison.

Court won't hear challenge to Clean Air Act rule

The Supreme Court won't hear a challenge to a tough new clean air requirement limiting sulfur dioxide emissions. The high court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from businesses and industrial interests involving an Environmental Protection Agency regulation setting emission levels of sulfur dioxide, a colorless gas with the smell of rotting eggs. Sulfur dioxide from power plant smokestacks can be carried long distances by wind and weather and has been linked to various illnesses including asthma. Several corporations and industrial associations along with several states say that EPA's required emission levels are lower than mandated by law to protect public health. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to overturn the EPA's decision. The justices refused to reconsider that ruling.

Renault may close plants without labor agreement, union says

Renault SA, France's second-biggest carmaker, may shutter two factories in the country unless it reaches an agreement with unions on increasing productivity, holding back pay and cutting the workforce, a labor leader said. A plant in Flins is most at risk of closing, Dominique Chauvin, head of the CFE-CGC union at the carmaker, said today by phone during a break in talks with management. The carmaker "isn't threatening to close an industrial plant," as talks are aimed at finding ways to increase competitiveness, Raluca Barb, a Renault spokeswoman, said by phone in response. The carmaker said earlier today that it's willing to increase production in France by 15 percent once a labor deal is reached. Boulogne-Billancourt-based Renault began talks with unions in November as part of efforts to sustain profit while Europe's car market falls to almost a two-decade low. Detroit- based General Motors Co., which is unprofitable in the region, said today that it may accelerate a German plant's shutdown. Renault is asking unions to agree to a wage freeze in France this year and then raises of 0.5 percent in 2014 and 0.75 percent in 2015, the carmaker said today in a statement that didn't specify plans in the absence of an agreement.

Stocks waver as companies report mixed earnings

Stocks are wavering between small gains and losses as several big U.S. companies report their fourth-quarter financial results. The Dow Jones industrial average was up four points at 13,654 shortly before noon Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell two to 1,484. The Nasdaq composite average dropped 10 points to 3,124.Chemical and bioscience company DuPont reported a sharp drop in income, but the results still beat analysts' forecasts. DuPont's stock rose 1.6 percent. The market was closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

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Evening Business News briefing

U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose in 2012 to their highest level in five years, spurred higher by record-low mortgage rates and steady hiring. The National Association of Realtors said